Broken
by theSAMPIRE
Summary: What would have happened if, the night Darry slapped Ponyboy, Ponyboy hurt himself when he fell?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **_S.E. Hinton created and owns the Outsiders along with all the characters... I don't own any of it._

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_Darry wheeled around and slapped me so hard i fell against the door. _My hands tried to grasp something on my way down, but caught onto nothing, so down i fell. As my body whacked into the doorway, one of my arms landed on the ground in front of me and in the shocked silence you could hear the sickening crack that echoed through out the room.

Pain. Thats all i could think about as i felt the pain shot up my arm. As the pain shoot through my arm it seemed to radiate and my whole body seemed to struggle with the mind boggling pain. I let out a small cry. Darry and Soda, who had seemed to be frozen with shock seemed to take this cry as a confirmation as to what had just happened. Time seemed to rush forward then.

Darry was at my side in an instant, begging for forgiveness. I almost didn't forgive him, but the as i turn to face him i saw the look in his eyes. They looked so many emotions at once: guilty, horrified, upset, depressed, pain, worry, panic and i noted in slight amusement that there was a slight look of hysteria. Actually now that i thought about all the pain seemed to lessen if i thought about something funny. Watching a big, strong, muscular, tuff guy look like he was about to curl up and start hyperventilating was very amusing. I felt the need to reassure him.

"It's okay Darry, i'm fine" My voice shook a little though and gave away my cover.

"Ponyboy you are far from okay, we need to get you to the hospital right now!" Was Darry's response. He had calmed down quiet a bit and was now giving Soda directions on what to do.

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Sodapop helped me out of the backseat and was now ushering my though the sliding doors of the hospital.

"i'm going to go talk to the nurse at the front desk, you two go sit down and wait" Darry ordered.

"Kay" I agreed usually i hate hospitals, but right now i was in to much pain to argue otherwise.

Sodapop led me over to some hard plastic chairs while trying to coax me. He knows i hate hospitals. Darry joined us a couple minutes later and we all sat in silence waiting for the doctor to come and look at my arm.

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**So there you have it, my first chapter of my first fanfic, please review, i wanna know if it's any good :) If i get lots of reviews saying it's good i'll write more soon.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I still don't own anything...**

**Oh and also thx to the people who reviewed and gave me the suggestions! I really appreciate it and will try to keep your comments in mind while I'm writing. Oh! and just so you know this chapter is in Darry's POV not Ponys :)**

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I sat down on a hard plastic chair beside Ponyboy and I couldn't help, but to think _this is all my fault_ Those words seemed to echo thought my head and as I sat for what seemed to be hours on end. The only thing that that could have broke me of my thoughts at that moment was Sodapop's panicked voice.

"Ponyboy? PONYBOY!? PONYBOY WHATS WRONG" Soda's panicked voice got higher as he spoke and I slowly turned in my seat to see what was wrong.

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I had not expected to see what I saw when I looked over. Ponyboy was a slight strange bluish color, his breathing was shallow, rapid and irregular. You could see the distinct sheen of sweat thatcovered his body.

"Ponyboy?" I said quietly, not knowing what to do. I reached out to touch him, perhaps bring out of this trance he was in, but his skin was cold.

Not knowing what else to do I called after a passing by nurse. She spun around when she heard my cry for help. One look at Ponyboy and she sucked in a breath before calling a bunch of nurses and doctors. A stretcher was wheeled into the room and Ponyboy was wheeled off. The nurse who I had called out to, looked at us with a comforting expression.

"w-what h-h-happened" Soda's shocked voice quivered a bit when he spoke.

"Your brother went into shock, from the major disturbance to his blood circulation due to his broken arm" the nurse responded in a soft soothing voice.

"Is he going to be okay?" I asked, my voice weak with worry.

"I'm sure he'll be fine. He's in surgery right now, but you can see him when he gets out. Now if you'll excuse me, someone will come and inform you when you can go see you brother, I have to go tend to some things" and with that the nurse swiftly walked away.

"I'm going to go phone Two-bit's house tell him about Pony and see if he can tell the rest of the gang what happened for us, will you be okay on your own while I phone?" I asked looking at Sodapop. He was pale and slightly shaky as to what had just happened, but he nodded his head.

"Telling the gang might be a good idea, You go ahead and phone them, i'll be fine" was his quivery response

I nodded and headed to the front desk to ask where there was a phone I could use.

After finally getting hold of a phone, I slowly dialed Two-bit's number and pressed the speaker to my ear. The phone rang six times before i heard someone on the other end pick up.

"Hello?" came Two-bit groggy voice from the other end, it almost sounded grouchy... I wondered why....

"Um.... Hi.... It's me, Darry." Was my pathetic greeting

"DARRY! WHY ARE YOU PHONING ME AT 3:00 IN THE MORNING YOU JUST WOKE ME UP" so thats why the normally cheery Two-bit was so grouchy... Guess I lost track of time...

I quickly explained the situation before being reassured by Two-bit that he would inform the rest of the gang. I sighed in relief that the gang would know what was happening and slowly made my way back to the waiting room. I sat down beside Soda.

15 minuets passed before we heard the squeaks of shoes running on the tile and rushed voices.

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**I know it's short, but i'll write a new chapter soon. Thx again to anyone who reviewed my last chapter, I would really appreciate it if this chapter was reviewed too, tips and suggestions on how to improve are really appreciated! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I still don't own any of it.**

**Thx to anyone who reviewed!!! Your reviews make me so happy! I also want to say thx to ali101 for taking time to help me with my grammar and pointing out mistakes so I know for next time, hopefully this chapter will have all of the things you pointed out fixed! :) This chapter is in Sodapops POV**

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I watched my older brother slump over to the front desk to ask about a phone and I realized just how guilty he felt right now. _I'll comfort him later_ I thought to myself after realizing that I was in no condition to be comforting him. I was so shaky that I had a feeling that me comforting Darry at the moment wouldn't be of any help. I heard him sit back down beside me and out of the corner of my eye I saw him put his head in his hands. For once I was at loss of words, I had no idea what to do or say, we both sat in an awkward silence.

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After about 15 minutes of total silence, we heard the squeaks of shoes running across the hospital tile and rushed voices. Darry took his head out of his hands and looked up, probably just as curious as I was as to what the commotion was. As the voices neared I recognized them almost instantly. _The gang was here _I thought as relief washed over me. Just as the thought came into my head, the door burst open and the gang appeared before us.

"Is the kid okay!? After you phoned I went and gathered everyone up and headed straight here!" Two-Bit said panting for breath due to running through the hospital "Darry just said that he hit Pony an' he fell an' broke his arm. Is he okay!?"

"We don't know," Was my quiet response

"Why don't you know Soda? It's just a broken arm, not like he'll die or nothin'" was Steve's response, I knew he was trying to comfort me, but he didn't know how bad the circumstances were. Steve saying this calmed me down a little... Before I remembered what Pony had looked like while being carried away on the stretcher. I felt all the color drain from my face as I remembered the horrid incident.

"He... he went into shock and had to be rushed into emergency surgery," Darry responded before I had the chance, his voice was husky from trying to hold back tears and more quiet than his usual strong, low voice. I knew he would break pretty soon.

The whole gang had paled when they heard this and Steve's mouth popped open in shock. Darry took one look at everybody and burst into tears. If it hadn't been such a serous matter I would have laughed because, lets face it, a big muscular guy like Darry bawling like a baby? It's pretty funny. Instead, I put an arm around him.

"It's a-all m-my f-f-fault," He managed to choke out between sobs. Thats when Johnny spoke up, He had been standing the farthest away from everyone and now took a step forward.

"It's not your fault Darry, you let your anger get the best of you and weren't really yourself," Johnny's voice was stern and it shocked me a little. He had never been one to take control in situations such as these.

A doctor then opened the door to the waiting room.

"Relations to Ponyboy Curtis?" The doctor said. He was a short man with red hair and a bald patch on the back of his head, with bright blue eyes. He was decked out in green scrubs.

We all stood when we heard this and the man seemed overwhelmed. Darry, seeming to have gained back his control and took a step towards the doctor.

"I'm his eldest brother sir, Darry Curtis" He stuck out his hand for the man to shake. The man shook his hand before beginning to speak.

"oh, um, I'm , your brother is, um, in surgery but, um, I was sent to ask you a few question about how this, um, incident happened," He said, looking nervous, eyes shifting around looking at all of us.

"Ask away," I said, realizing that there was no way out of this.

"Um, okay, were you all witnesses of the accident?" He asked, seeming less nervous than before now that he knew he had our permission to interrogate us.

"Yes," I responded nice and firm, Don't get me wrong, it's not like I wanted to lie, it's just that in these kind situations the more witnesses, the better.

"Oh, OK, How did he break his arm?"

"He fell," This time it was Johnny who spoke up

The questioning went on for at least 20 minutes and then he decided to give us a lecture of what shock was and how it was caused. I love Ponyboy, he's my brother and according to this Roberts guy that meant I needed to know about shock. I strongly disagree. 45 minutes later, Roberts was still talking and I was bored as hell. I looked around and saw Dally was sleeping (along with Johnny and Steve). Darry was pretending to listen politely, but I could see that everything that this guy was saying was going in one ear and out the other and Two-Bit.... Had found a non-permanent marker and was now taking the opportunity to draw a mustache on Steve. He was caught in the act though when Steve woke, up and I stifled a laugh. Roberts looked at me (and I was pretty sure he was about to start a new lecture about respect) when the intercom came on telling him that he needed to see one of his patients. As he scurried away, everyone let out a sigh of relief (Steve made such a commotion of washing off the marker that everyone woke up).

"That was so boring that it was scary," Dally announced

"You fell asleep in the first ten minuets of it, _I_ had to pretend to be _interested,"_ argued Darry.

"Guys, it's like 4:00 in the morning don't you think you could keep it down for a little while so those of us that want to sleep can?", Johnny groaned sleepily.

After that, silence. I tried to stay awake, but soon succumbed to sleep.

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**So there you have it, ch3, please review! I also love suggestions on how to improve! **

**Thx Artemis for editing to make sure I didn't screw up too much XD  
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	4. Chapter 4

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****Disclaimer: I still don't own any of it.****  
****I've had so many reviews! Thank you so much, to anyone who reviewed, it makes me so happy that people like my story! This chapter is in Steve's POV ;)**  


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I don't know how long we had all been sleeping for, but I awoke to the sound of a nurse clearing her throat and Soda nudging me.

"Steve, we gotta wake up now," he said, flashing me a goofy grin. I went along with Soda, prodding everyone to wake them up. Except for Two-Bit, who I whacked in the back of the head. He deserved it.

The nurse then stepped forward. "Immediate family of Ponyboy Curtis can now see him." She said, eyeing us all. A smile played on her lips as she added: "You all must be immediate family, am I correct?"

"Yes, we all are, thank you so much" Darry said with a sigh of relief "How is he?"

"He should be good to go in a couple of days, however, the doctors think it's best that he stay here for at least tonight and tomorrow night. Just to keep an eye on him." By this time we had reached a door.

The nurse turned around and gave us a stern look "Ponyboy is likely sleeping now, so don't disturb him. He shouldn't have too much stress or excitement right now." She walked off.

We all stared at the door knob. Nobody wanted to open that door and see how bad the kid was. Not even me. Sure, he can sometimes be annoying, and he really does frustrate me when he tags along with Soda and I, but he's not a bad kid. In some ways he's kinda like a kid brother to me. Dally finally reached out and grasped the handle. He slowly turned the knob and allowed the door to creak open.

Pony was sleeping. You could hear a faint beeping in the background, the heart monitor he was hooked up to. On his right arm he had a white cast, on his left arm there were two I.V.s connected to him. One was giving his body blood and the other was giving him some sort of clear medication. He had an oxygen mask on, although I think that was just a precaution. There was a slight bruise forming on his jaw. From when Darry hit him, I was guessing. He didn't look as bad Johnny when he got jumped a couple months ago, but in a way he looked worse. It was hard to see him laying there, almost as pale as the hospital sheets that covered him. I stood there and watched as everyone gathered in the room, concern etched into their faces. I just stood there dumbfounded. I didn't know what to do. Soda's shoulders slumped and I moved out of the doorway and wrapped an arm around him.

"It'll be okay, buddy, the nurse said he'll be outta here in a couple of days," I said. I was trying to convince Sodapop that it would be all right. As I looked around the room though I noticed that by the looks that I was getting from everybody I sounded as if I was trying to convince myself, too. They were right.

I looked away from everyones gaze and noticed something that no one else had noticed. I guess because they had all been so caught up in the moment. Pony's eyelids had fluttered open and after a couple minutes he blinked before lifting his good arm (if you could call it that with all the needles in it) up to his face. He frowned in confusion before trying to take the mask off. Everyone else, I noted, still hadn't noticed he was awake. I took it upon myself to reach forward and stop his hand from pulling off the mask.

"Oh no, don't." I said in a stern voice and everyone turned to see who I was talking to.

"Ponyboy!" Darry yelped, his voice sounded far beyond relieved. Pony struggled but managed to sit up. I watched curisously, wondering what he was doing as his hand slowly reached upwards toward his face once again.

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**HARRAH!!!! :D I have finally finished my fourth chapter! Thanks again to all of the awesome reviewers I've had! Please review this chapter! I'll update again as soon as I can ;)**

**AND THIS IS ARTEMIS SAYING I AM AN AWESOME EDITOR. AND I DID A BETTER JOB ON THIS CHAPTER. Oh boy, Sam is so gonna delete this.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: If I magically owed all of it I wouldn't be writing fanfiction right now. Actually I probably would. I still don't own any of it.**

**Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers ;) !!!!!! I'm sorry for not updating for awhile, but I'm updating now, so it's all good! Anyway, I'm sure you all noticed Artemis's little 'message' at the end of the last chapter, just so you all know I WAS going to delete that. But I'm an idiot and forgot. Hope you enjoy this chapter! It's from Ponyboy's POV :P**

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I awoke to an annoying beeping sound. Everything was a little blurry and I had to blink a couple times before regaining proper vision.

_What happened...? _I thought to myself. The last thing I remembered was sitting in the waiting room with Soda and Darry waiting for my arm to be fixed. After that all my memories were sorta hazy. I remember someone calling my name and another person crying for help. After that I don't remember anything.

I looked around trying to find out clues to what had happened. My right arm was in a cast and my left hand had a bunch of needles in it. I was also wearing an oxygen mask. Looking around the room I noticed that the room looked similar to that of a hospital room.... The gang was there and I figure that I could just ask one of them what happened. I open my mouth to speak but quickly closed it, realizing that the oxygen mask was stopping me from being able to talk. I reached up with my good arm to take it off.

"Oh no, don't," Ordered a strict voice that I recognized as Steve's. Just then Darry went over to the bed I was lying in. He started babbling on, begging for my forgiveness. At the moment I wasn't paying attention to what he was saying, all I wanted to know was what happened. So I reached up towards my face for a second time and before anyone could stop me, I pulled off the mask.

"Oh, Ponyboy! You weren't supposed to do that! You were supposed to keep that on!" Soda scolded. But he sounded relieved.

"W-what happened?" I questioned, my voice shaky and weak.

"What do you mean, 'what happened'?!" Darry said, he looked shocked that I didn't remember anything.

"Um, well... all I remember was sitting in the waiting room at the hospital with you and Soda. Then everything got all hazy and I remember someone calling my name and another person crying for help and then I woke up here." That was pretty much the extent of my memories.

"Pony, you don't remember going into shock?" Soda asked softly. He sounded kinda surprised.

"Um, no I don... Wait, What!? I went into shock!?" I responded. When had that happened!? I guess that would explain the oxygen mask...

"You went into circulatory shock, Pon, You had us real worried" Darry said in a soft tone. "I guess you wouldn't remember, you were pretty out of it. You were rushed into emergency surgery."

"Huh," Was the only response I could think of.

"I'm sorry Ponyboy, it's all my fault you're stuck in here," Darry said looking guilty.

"No, it wasn't your fault. It wasn't anybody's fault. I know you're sorry for hitting me and I know that you love me, but before you start apologizing for that, stop. You're already forgiven," I told Darry.

"Thanks, little buddy." A small smile played on his lips.

"Look on the the bright side, Pony, You'll be outta here in a couple days," Two-bit broke in, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well, that's an up. Is there any other great things that I need to know?" I asked, jokingly.

"Oh! I got one! When you went into shock you turned a shade of blue I've never seen before!" Soda said brightly.

A nurse came in and told me I needed my sleep. She told the gang that if they wanted to stay the night she'd make an exception, but they had to let me get my sleep. She then asked me if I was in any pain. I had been so caught up in talking with everyone that I hadn't really noticed, but now that it was mentioned did have quite a bit of pain in my right arm.

"My right arm really hurts," I quietly admitted, nodding sheepishly. The nurse smiled kindly at me.

"Alright then, I'm going to hook you up to another IV machine. This one will have some pain medication in it but, the medication will make you very drowsy." She informed me as she prepared the IV. Oh no. I had never been good with needles.

"Couldn't we just mix it with the medication I'm getting in that one?" I asked desperately as she cleaned my arm off in another place, preparing it for the prick.

"Sorry, I can't do that. You can't just mix them around." She said. I was about to pulled away when she jabbed the needle into my skin quickly. I winced at the pain. As the medication began to inject it's self into I felt my eyelids become heavy. I soon fell asleep.

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**So there you have it, Chapter 5! Please review :D! Next chapter I'm not sure who's point of view to put it in, so I'm open for suggestions ;D. Thanks for editing Atriums and don't you dare write another one of you 'messages.**

**MESSAGEMESSAGEMAESSAGE! FROM THE GREATEST EDITOR IN THE WORLD!! MWAHAHAHAHA!!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: By now you should all know I don't own any of it.**

**To all my reviewers, YOU ROCK :D!!!! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while now, to tell you the truth, for a little while I was at a complete loss as to what to write. I KNOW WHAT TO DO NOW! I think….. Any-hoo This chapter is in Darry's POV ;)**

**Oh! I almost forgot, Artemis I swear you will be harmed if you keep writing your messeage things at the bottom.**

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I'm so glad Ponyboy forgave me. I swear I will never blow up at him for something so stupid again.

I looked down at Pony's peaceful, sleeping figure. His face held a calm expressionand he looked younger in his slumber. Even though he had forgiven me, I still felt guilty. What kind of brother was I!? I hit him, and that definitely didn't get me anywhere. I felt as if I had stooped down to as low a level as Johnny's father, who's constantly beatin' on Johnny. The bruise the Pony sported on his face was a symbol, a reminder of the horrible thing I had done. I watched Ponyboy slip back and forth, into consciousness and not. He was so young, he looked so vulnerable in his sleep.

A young nurse entered the room.

"Visiting hours are long over, one of you can stay the night. The rest of you have to leave." She informed us. The nurse looked at us expectantly, waiting for us to choose who would get to stay and for the rest of us to leave.

"I'll stay! I want to be here when Pony wakes up again." declared Soda

"Soda you have work tomorrow. You can't stay, I'll stay with him," I argued.

"But Darry, you have work too!" Soda shot back.

"You both have work tomorrow, so neither of you can stay." Steve said, breaking up our little squabble.

"We're his brothers, Steve. One of us has to be here for him!" Soda insisted.

Stepping forward, Dally spoke:

"No, you don't have to be here. If you want to help Pony then it's best you go to work and not get fired, because you're going to have hospital bills to pay for." He reminded us.

Before Soda could argue back I rested a hand on his shoulder.

"He's right, Soda. We can't afford to loose our jobs. Not right now," I said, sighing. As much as I didn't want to leave Ponyboy, I had no choice.

"I want to stay." Johnny announced quietly.

"Alright, then it's settled." I said, agreeing with Johnny. He would be the best out of the gang and would be able to comfort Ponyboy if he needed it. "Let's go, we'll see Pony and Johnny tomorrow." I said, ushering everyone out of the room.

Walking down the hospital hallways, my lack of sleep seemed to crash down on me. My feet felt like weights as I dragged myself into the parking lot; eyelids heavy and I was fighting to keep them open.

"You look pretty worn out there Darry, want me to drive?" Two-Bit asked. I absentmindedly nodded and pulled myself into the front passenger seat of the truck. The last thing I did before I fell asleep was yank my seat belt on.

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**Okay, so there you are! Chapter six! I know it's a little on the short side, but I will update as soon as possible with a hopefully longer chapter ;)**

**Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: By now you probably already know that I don't own any of it. You've also probably have taken to realizing that I wish I did own The Outsiders. If you have realized this already.... I'll just tell you now, I really wish I owed the Outsiders.**

**I'm sad to say I haven't been getting a lot of reviewers lately, I really would appreciate it if you reviewed this story. To those of you who did review, thank you so much, I appreciate it a lot. Also, IT'S SUMMER HOLIDAYS, YAAAAY! This means I'll be able to update my account and this story much more often. I'm also thinking of starting a new story. **

**Any-hoo this chapter is Ponyboy's POV.**

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It's been two days since I was submitted to the hospital, and the doctors have finally decided that my condition is stable and that it would be all right if I went home. Of course, I won't be able to go to school for a little bit yet. But that's okay, I can get Two-Bit to collect my homework for me.

A social worker stopped by my hospital room the other day to ask me some questions about my injury. I told her that I fell, and that was how I broke my arm. She asked me how got the bruise on my face (which is starting to look a lot better, by the way) and I told her that my jaw knocked into something. I am happy to report that the social worker believed my story and I will continue living with my brothers. Things are starting to become normal around the gang and I again, and although I don't think I'll be wrestling with Two-Bit anytime soon, they're not treating me like I'm something breakable anymore (they're still really trying to be gentle around me though). Darry and I are on way better terms, and I think that both of us will try harder not fight about things.

"Hey Pone, I brought you some clothes, ready to get out of your hospital gown?" Soda asks me, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yes!" I reply snatching the the clothes from him with my good arm. I immediately jump out of bed and start to take off my hospital gown. I yank the gown through the small hole made by my sling, finally ridding my body of the garment. Soda just laughs and leaves the room in order to give me a bit of privacy. The first thing I do is put on the pair of clean underwear Soda had given me, then I pulled on my jeans, I had a little trouble getting the button on my jeans done up, but I eventually got it. The only thing I hadn't put on yet was my shirt.

_How the hell am I going to get this on!?_ I think to myself. At the moment my arm is in a sling. I try to undo the sling from the back, but can't get it undone. I try to slide the sling off but I can't because I had too much trouble lifting my arm in order to do so. Next, I try just pulling my shirt on with the sling on. It doesn't work.

Grumbling, I give up and head towards the door. I open it up and poke my head out.

_G__reat,_ I think. The whole gang was standing outside in the hallway talking to each other; I guess they had all decided to come because they all knew I was coming home today, even Dally was there. The only person who wasn't was Darry, and that was because he was filling out some discharge papers for my release at the front desk.

"Hey, Soda!" I whisper-yell, trying not to get the attention of everyone else. Of course they all turn towards me when they heard my voice.

"Yeah, Pony?" Soda responds casually, turning around to face me just like everyone else.

"Can you help me? I can't my shirt on." I ask, feeling l my ears grow hot and knew that they were probably a very bright shade of red. Two-Bit burss out laughing. Steve tries and fails to hold back his laughter. Even Dally lets out a little snicker, and Johnny cracks a smile.

"Sure," Soda says, smiling. I can tell he is trying to hold back his laughter.

"Next time one of you breaks your arm and can't get your shirt on, I'm going to laugh at you, then you'll be sorry you guys laughed at me!" I half-heartedly threaten my laughing friends, while childishly sticking out my tongue at them.

"I hate to break it to you, buddy, but none of us are planning on breaking our arms anytime soon." Two-Bit says, grinning.

I ignore his comment and allow Soda to guide me back into my hospital room. Soda grabs my shirt off the bed before returning to my side.

"I'm going to take your sling off, are you ready?" Soda asks me.

"Yeah," I say. As Soda removed my sling, I feel the heaviness of my cast's weight. It makes me feel unsteady to have the extra weight on one side of my body, and I sway a little bit due to it. I feel strong arms steady me.

"You okay, Pony? You seem a bit unsteady. Do you need to sit down?" Soda asks me, concern etched into his voice.

"I'm all right, just this cast is real heavy. Makes me kind of unbalanced." I reply.

"Okay, but if you need to sit down just give me the word," Soda sounds unsure, and I'm pretty sure he wanted me to sit down, but I didn't. I hate the fact that I'm so weak right now, and sitting down would not help. Soda gently takes hold of my bad arm and pulls it through its sleeve hole. He then helps me pull the rest of my shirt on, and positions my arm and put it back in the sling.

"Thanks, Soda," I say quietly. He puts a comforting hand on my shoulder and leads me out of the room. He doesn't take his hand off my shoulder, and I knew that in my unsteady state he was afraid I might fall and hurt myself. I felt better knowing that he would catch me if I fell.

"Ready to get out of here, little buddy?" Darry asks while walking up to us.

"Yes! Lets get outta here!" I exclaim eagerly. A few chuckles were exchanged amongst the gang at my excitement before we left the hospital.

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**Okay, Well there is my Next chapter! See that beautiful button that says, Review this Story/Chapter? Press it and good things will happen. I swear, they will.  
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	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I still don't own any of it.**

**YAAAAAAAAAAAAY! I'm reviewing again!...... Since I'm posting this right after after my last chapter I've had no reviewers yet, but thank you to anyone who has review or is going to!**

**This Chapter is in Pony's POV again.**

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It's been almost a week since I got out of the hospital. I'm almost caught up on all the school work I've missed. I'm so happy to be home from the hospital, but Darry, Soda and just the whole gang in general have not let me leave the house. The furthest I'm allowed to go is to the front porch, and even that got boring after awhile. I mean, sure, the doctor said it would probably be best if I stayed home for a little while, but to contain me like this!? I've begged Darry to let me out of this house, but all he does is is say, 'Now, now, Ponyboy, it's doctor's orders. You've gotta stay home, it's for your own good.'

I've asked Soda too, but he says the same thing. Once, while Soda and Darry were at work and Steve had the day off, he and Two-bit were watching me for the day. I asked them if they'd let me outta here for a bit, and then Two-bit said, 'No way, kid, Darry'll kill us!", followed by Steve saying, 'Besides, the doctor says you need to stay home.'

I asked Johnny, but he just said, 'I'm sorry Pone, but you can't.' I even asked Dally one time, and he told me that Darry would skin him alive if he let me out. This brings us to the situation at hand.

I'm crouched just far enough from the door that when it opens, so that I won't get whacked by it. I'm waiting for Darry to get home. The rest of the gang is sitting on the couches watching me. They've asked me several times what I'm doing, but gave up after getting no response after about the fourth time. Now they're just talking about what they think I'm doing. They don't know it, but I have a plan.

"He looks like a cat," I heard Two-Bit say.

"Having to stay here has been driving him nuts, maybe he's lost it," Dally suggests.

"I'm sure he's fine," Johnny says.

Soda joins in. "Maybe we should try pulling him away from his, um, perch..."

"I'm not sure that would be the best idea." Steve says. Just at that moment, the door opens and Darry steps into the house. I take action right away. I spring at Darry, tackling him to the ground.

"Gah! What the hell, Pony! What are you doing?! Get off me!" Darry says from underneath me. The whole room is completely silenced with shock.

"I refuse to get off! Let me outside then I'll get off you! I don't want to be contained any longer!" I inform him. I feel arms around me, and turn to see who it was. Soda and Dally are behind me, and they gently lift me off Darry. I start to thrash around and Steve ends up joining into the process of trying to get me off of Darry.

"No! Stop! You guys are ruining my plot to ecscape!" I say, freaking out. I am literally going crazy in this house.

Two-Bit is in a fit of laughter, and Johnny just sits on the couch completely shocked as to what just happened.

"Pony, the doctor said to keep you at home for a little while. You could get hurt outside," Johnny tells me, sitting down. Soda, Dally and Steve pull me onto the couch.

"I could get hurt inside too," I say.

"Oh, really? And how would you do that?" Darry asks me.

"I could trip fall into a knife on the counter," I reply. "Please, Dar! Just let me outta here for a little bit, a small walk in the park, anything! Please! I need out; I'm going completely insane in here!" I beg him.

"I could come with him. We could go for a quick walk in the park." Johnny offers.

"Okay, fine, but if you're over 45 minutes we're going to come looking for you. Understand?" Darry says, giving in. I nod eagerly before grabbing Johnny's arm and start dragging him to the doorway.

"I can walk by myself, Pony," Johnny says, laughing. I laugh too, and with a wave back to the house we set off for the park.

"Thanks for getting me out of there, Johnny." I say, walking down the sidewalk.

"No problem Pone, I know you've been needing to get out for quite some while now." He tells me, smiling. We stroll though the park until we come to the fountain. Suddenly, we hear the sound of tires. They squealed on the pavement, obviously braking fast, and we turn around just in time to see a group of socs--drunk, no doubt--pile out of the car.

"Hey! Ain't those the kids that picked up our girls last week?" One of them slurs, wobbling forward.

"Think they are! Let's get them!" Another agrees. He quickly turns on us and starts to punch Johnny in the face. Johnny falls over from the impact of the blow, while another guy comes to assist his friend in beating mine. One holds him to the ground, in a position where he couldn't reach for his switchblade, while the other begins throwing punches at him.

Some guy throws a couple of punches at me, and I fall over. I use my good hand to break my fall, and to protect my other arm. Somebody kicks me at least a dozen times in the ribs, and I was pretty sure that one or two had cracked from the force of the blows. I gasp for breath as hostile hands grab hold of and yank me over to the fountain.

"Let's give this one a bath!" One of the Socs calls out, and two of his friends agree and come over to help him. From the corner of my eye I can see that Johnny is still pinned to the ground, still getting beaten, still unable to fight back.

My head is grabbed forcefully and I feel my face break through the surface of the cold fountain water. My head is lifted and I gasp for air before being thrust back into the water. From underwater I can hear the faint, muffled sounds of people shouting. The pressure that had been holding my head underwater was released. I pull my head out, gaspingand sputtering for air. I try to inhale deeply, but my ribs hurt too much. The most I can do is take shoprt, ragged breaths. I manage to register that my cast had been left well enough alone, still dry, although that was probably just dumb luck.

I look around. The gang is fighting the drunken socs off and I can see across the field that Johnny is sitting up against a tree, gasping for air. One of his eyes is swollen shut and he has a split lip. He also has bruises forming along his jaw line.

The socs make a break for their car, looking rather on the beat up side and drive off, tires squealing in their rush. Dally had helped Johnny up, and, by the looks of it, Dally was supporting most of Johnny's weight as they made their way slowly over to me. The rest of the gang does the same, at an admittedly faster pace. I sit up, pained, and try to stand. By this time the entire gang had reached me.

"You guys okay?" I hear someone ask, though I am too out of it to recognize who. I feel my knees give way and I start to fall. Someone screams my name, and I feel strong arms catch me before I lapse into a uncomfortably familiar unconscious state.

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**Okay Done :D hope you all enjoyed, please review, and I'll udate soon.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Blarg. **

**..... I still don't own any of it.**

**WHOOT! So any-hoo, Thank you to everybody who reviewed my last chapter.... (Although, I haven't actually posted that chapter yet, so I haven't actually received any reviews, but oh well.) You reviewers are the best! I know I'm kinda posting a whole thwack of chapters all at once, but I blame it on Artemis. She hasn't edited my stuff in a while so all the chapters are kinda building up..... I could just post them without them edited, but instead I think I'll spare the world from having to deal with my crappy grammar and wait for artemis to edit.**

**Onward-ho with the story! This chapter is in Sodapop's POV.**

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As soon as Pony and Johnny stepped out of that door, Darry's eyes were on the clock. We all kinda milled around the house until, suddenly, Darry stood up.

"Damnit, 46 minutes! He been gone for 46 minutes!" He declared, and although his tone was frustrated, it had 'worried' written all over it.

"Don't worry so much, Superman. I'm sure he's heading back right now." Steve lazily reassured him, looking up from the couch.

"I'm going out looking for him. He had his Out-of-the-House time, and now that his time's up, I get to go crazy and drag 'im back here." Darry said while pulling on his shoes. "Who wants to help me?"

"Fine, we'll come, but Pony's not going to be to happy about this," I said, rolling my eyes.

As we all stepped out of the house we heard a distant unfamiliar voice shout, 'Hey, lets give this one a bath!' It sounded like the voice was coming from the park. We all stood still for a second, before Dally spoke.

"Bet ya guys that wasn't a grease talkin'."

Worry suddenly engulfed me. What if Pony and Johnny had gotten jumped? I took off running, and the gang seemed to have the same idea in mind, because they were all speeding along beside me. We reached the park ina flash, just in time to see Johhny grab his switchblade from his poket and threaten the guy who had been beatin' on him. The guy seemed to back away pretty quick. I scanned the area of the park and ny eyes rested on the water fountain. Somebody was being drowned in the foutain.

_Oh God, please, no. Don't let it be Ponyboy._ I thought to myself. I started shouting at the Socs, as did the rest of the gang before I took a swing at the Soc closest to me. It wasn't really fight at all, those drunken cowards ran away so fast you'd have thought we set them on fire. I wish we had.

"You guys all right?" Two-bit called out to Johnny and Pony. Dally was already by Johnny's side, helping him stand.

Ponyboy sat up slowly by the fountain. Pain was etched into the lines on his face and he looked horrible. His lips were slightly bluish from the cold water, his wet hair hung limply and he was bruised up all over. We all walked over to where he sat, and, as I got closer, I was glad to find that his cast was still dry. He shakily tried to stand. His knees wobbled and his leg threated to give out any moment. They were about to give way whe I called out his name.

"Ponyboy!" I screamed, sprinting as fast as could over to his side. Luckily, Darry made it in time to catch Ponyboy when he fainted and he picked him up.

"Come on, lets all get back to the house. Johnny, it looks like you sprained your ankle, get some ice on that as soon as we get throught that door, and keep it elevated. Soda," He said turning to me. "you run ahead and fill the tub with warm water, we need to get Pony warmed up. Not hot, mind you, just warm. And find something to cover his cast up in."

I nodded and ran ahead, not even bothering to close the door behind me when I reached the house. I turned the taps on the bathtub, making sure the temperature was just right before putting the plug in the tub and letting it fill with water. I found some plastic bags just as the gang came in and started helping to cover up Pony's cast.

I hope he's all right.

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**Haragh! I"m done this chapter! REVEIWS ARE A BEATIFUL THING *HINT HINT***

**This is Artemis. I'm sorry for being a terrible editor. Also for adding a bunch of stuff to Sam's writing. I bet you guys can tell what sentences I've added, eh? Ha ha. Also sorry for making things in Pony's PoV present tense and everyone else's past tense, although I am sure that is the fault of the writer :c**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I still don't own any of it.**

**YEESHES! You all are amazing reviewers! Also, any past tense or imperfections in this story are all Artemis's fault, because I, Sampire, am way too awesome like to make any sort of mistake (That and I enjoy being an ass who blames her friends for her grammar and writing mistakes...).**

**Any-hoo this chapter is in Soda's POV once again.**

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After we got Ponyboy warmed up a little, he regained a small bit of consiousness. Although I'd warmed him up, I felt he was probably going to get a real bad cold, in the very least.

He stayed in his semi-conscious state as I helped him into a pair of sweatpants. I decided it was probably best I left his shirt off until we tended to his wounds. He had a lot of large gashes across his chest, and I worried he might have to get stitches. I noted his chest was bruising along his rib cage I was also guessing he had broken a rib or two. After taking the coverings off his cast, I slowly lifted him, trying to be gentle as I could, not wanting for him to feel any pain. I headed towards our bedroom, where I silently laid him down before going into the living room. Darry and Dally were just finishing up on treating Johnny's wounds when I came in.

"How's Pony doin'?" Steve asked as he came up beside me. I know Pony doesn't think Steve cares about him, but he does. A lot more than anybody would probably ever find out, I'm guessing.

"I got him warmed up, although I'm pretty sure he's going to have a nasty cold after this. I kept his shirt off, he's got some pretty bad gashes across the chest that need to be treated. I hope he doesn't need stitches. I think he might have also broken some ribs." I said, dutifully reporting to Steve and the rest of the gang.

"Soda, can you get some ice for his ribs while I go treat those gashes?" Darry asked, grabbing the first-aid kit and heading towards my room.

"Yeah, sure," I said, already heading towards the kitchen. As I got some ice I thought to myself, _all Pone wanted was to take a little walk, I can't believe his luck lately ..._

"Here," I said, walking into my room. I tossed Darry the bag of ice. He put it to Pony' side and continued working on his gashes. As Darry wiped at a particularly big gash that wouldn't stop bleeding, he sighed.

"Soda, can you go into the first-aid kit? There should be a needle and some thread in there. Bring that and some gauze over to me, this one is going to need stitches." He informed me. I dug through the medical supplies until I found he had asked for and then handed them over.

"Shouldn't we give him some painkillers before we do this?" I asked.

"The only painkillers we have are aspirin, and at the moment I don't think he's alert enough to take any," He replied. Darry had finished preparing the needle and had positioned it against Pony's skin before pushing it through the flesh. If Ponyboy hadn't been awake before, he was now. His eyes popped open and he let out a long pained groan.

"Stop! What are you doing? That hurts, Darry!" He complained in a horse voice, trying to wriggle away.

"You need to get this stitched up, little buddy, stop moving so much." Darry told him. He whimpered a little than tried to become as still as possible.

_What did my poor baby brother ever do to deserve this?_ I asked myself as I watched the painful procedure that was taking place in front of me.

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**I'm really sorry I know this chapter is short, but it's 1 in the morning and I think I should proably call it a night.... Or morning, or what ever.... I'll update after catching somes Z's. Personaly I think that review botton looks pretty tempting, come on, you know you wanna press it!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of it.**

**HARAGH! Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! Your reviews most definitely make me want to update more often *HintHint*! I'd also like to thank Artemis, who on vacation had to put up with the huge crap lode of stalkerish e-mails I sent her, telling her to edit.... If I were her I wouldn't have edited.... But, Artemis was nice and edited for me anyways.... Thank you.**

**This chapter is in Pony's POV.  
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I felt my body begin to warm up. and I became aware that I was surrounded by liquid. My eyelids feel heavy and I have to fight to try to get them open. They refuse to obey, no matter how hard I try.

I am vaguely aware of my surroundings. I know I am at home, and I'm guessing the warm liquid I'm sitting in is ... a bath?

I feel someone pull me from the tub and wrap a towel around me. They begin to walk with me in their arms. I someone else tries to pull the soft fabric that could only be a pair of worn sweat pants over my legs, and I try to help by wiggling my legs when need be. I feel throbbing pain, as though someone did something to my chest, and I know that my wounds were beginning treatment. I can hear a soft murmur, but don't understand what was being said. Suddenly, I feel something poke through my skin. I feel like weights have been suddenly lifted off my eyelids in the shock of what just happened, and my eyes pop open. I can see that Darry had stuck a sewing needle into my chest.

"Stop! What are you doing? That hurts, Darry!"I cry out in a hoarse voice as I try to move away, despite my sore body.

"You need to get this stitched up, little buddy. Stop moving so much." Darry tells me. I let out a pitiful whimper but tried to become as still as possible, in the vain hope that would somehow make him finish faster. "Now that you're awake, we could give you some aspirin if you want. It might help with some of the pain." He offers.

I nod as best I can, anything that could take away at least a _little_ pain sounded good to me right now. I heard someone leave the room but, couldn't who from where I was laying. Moments later Soda enters the room and came up beside me with a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin.

"Just hold on one second, Pony. Let Darry finish with your stitches and then I'll give you some aspirin to make the pain go away," He tells me in a soothing voice as he smoothed my hair away from my face. I felt one last tug at my chest and some gauze was taped over the stitches. "We're going to sit you up so you can take the aspirin, okay, little buddy?" Soda tells me as he grabbed my pillow. At the same time, Darry slid his arms behind my back and slowly started to help me into sitting position. Soda puts my pillow in back of me for support, proceeding to place the aspirin tablets on my tongue before putting the glass of water to my lips and tilting it upwards.

"Where's Johnny? Is he alright?" I asked. After all, he had been jumped too, and I was worried because I didn't see him around.

"Don't worry, he's in the living room. He wasn't hurt really badly and the wounds he does have, Darry and Dally have already treated," Soda tells me. "You need to get some rest, Pony, You can see Johnny when you wake up."

I am already slipping into deep slumber, though, and my eyelids suddenly become heavy again, and close shut.

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When I wake, dim light is streaming through the window and Soda is fast asleep with his mouth hanging open by my side. I feel light-headed and cold. Shivering, I realize I don't have a shirt on, and I pull the covers up to my chin. Suddenly, I feel hot and take them off. As soon as I do this, I freeze once again.

I sigh.

_I just can't win, can I?_ I think to myself as I cover my body once again, this time with just the thinnest of the sheets. I feel barely comfortable when coughs erupt from my throat, hurting my cut-up chest with the movement it causes. I sit up and instinctively place a hand over my mouth as the coughing fit continues. I must have woken up poor Soda because he begins to gently rub my back.

"Do you want me to get you something to drink? It might soothe your throat," He offers, rubbing my back in a slow, soothing, rhythmic motion. I opened my mouth to speak when nausea hits me. I clasp a hand over my mouth and Soda takes this as a hint to what was happening.

He grabs the trash can and hands it handing it to me. I empty my stomach. Soda takes the can from me and hands me a tissue to wipe my mouth with.

"Thanks," I croak, bursting into another coughing fit. The noise I had made must have woken somebody up-- more than one, I guess, due to the fact that I hear multiple pairs of feet against the floor.

Someone opens the door. Darry and Steve come in, and shortly after Two-Bit follows in, carrying a glass of juice. He hands me the glass and I take a large gulp of juice before putting it on the night table beside me.

I realize that this had probably not been the best move on my behalf, as a fresh wave of nausea hit me, making my stomach churn.

"You okay Pone?" Darry asks, kneeling down beside the bed. The only response he got was me grabbing the trash can from Soda and barfing the little amount of juice I had drank, followed by a bunch of dry heaves.

"I take it your feeling pretty crappy, then?" Steve piped up, trying to lighten the mood.

I start to feel incredibly hot, and I rip the thin bed sheet off my body. Darry reaches over and feels my forehead.

"Gee, Pony. You're burning up, lemme take your temperature," Darry says, holding a thermometer that he must have had in his hand. Before I can respond he pops the thermometer into my mouth. Two-Bit and Steve had silently left the room, probably realizing they were getting in the way. That, or they wanted to guarantee they wouldn't the ones cleaning out the trash can.

Darry finally takes the thermometer out of my mouth and frowns as he read it.

"Your temperature is way up, little buddy. We should probably try to find a way to bring it down," He tells me, just as I begin to freeze once again, shivering I grab all the blankets and pull them up to my chin.

"Hey! Were you not listening to me, we have to bring your temperature down, not up!" Darry laughs.

"But I'm freeeezing!" I complain, pulling the sheets up further.

"No, that's just the fever tricking you into thinking that!" He argues back.

By this time, Soda had left the room, not wanting to hear us fight. Darry grabs the sheets from me trying pull them down, but I held onto them fighting to keep them up. "It'll be much worse if you don't cooperate, Ponyboy," I ignore his threat and continue holding on to my blankets. "That's it." He says, frustrated. He swoops down, picking me up in his strong arms.

"What are you doing!?" I yelp, startled. He ignores me and walks into the kitchen, grabbing some plastic bags off the counter. Darry sits me down and starts wrapping up my bad arm. "Darry, what are you doing?"

"Wrapping your arm so it doesn't get wet." He simply said. Finishing, he picked me back up and started carrying me down the hall. I noted that Steve, Soda and Two-Bit had went back to sleep; and that Dally and Johnny both asleep as well, had elected to stay the night, too.

"What for?" I asked nervously.

"You refused to bring down your temperature the easy way, so now we have to bring it down the hard way." We enter the bathroom and I realize what he meant. I try to escape from his grasp, but he holds on tighter and turns on the shower onto cold, stepping in with me.

"Noooooo! Stop! NO, Darry, let me out of this shower right now!" I start to freak out. I do not like this.

"What are ya doin', Darry?" A very grouchy Dally comes from the other side of the shower curtain. I feel kinda guilty when I realized that I had probably woken everyone up.

"I'm bring Ponyboy's temperature down," Darry tells him through the curtain.

"Huh, by the commotion he's making, you'd think you were trying to kill him." Dally says laughing.

"Dally, save me!" I call out in one last desperate attempt to save myself from the cold shower.

"Wow, he sounds pretty delusional, Dar. You may want to keep him in there for a little bit." He laughing as we walks out.

Yeah, love you too, Dally.

We stand there in the shower, and after a little bit I realize that I can't escape from Darry's grasp. I stop struggling.

The cool water begins to feel nice against my feverish skin and the soft pitter-patter sound the water made as it fell on Darry and I's bodies was soothing. My eyes closed and I felt myself succumb into a light slumber as I stood in the shower, leaning on Darry for support.

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**So that's the end of chapter 11! Hope you enjoed it, I'll update soon! Please Review!**

**Hey, it's Artemis. I'm really sorry for being a slow editor. And for not actually reprimanding Sam for the plot stuff. ****... I'm just here for grammar xD**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I still don't own any of it.**

**WHOOT! This is my second chapter in row that I've written!.... Actually it's not in a row this was written about 3 day after the last chapter, but Artemis is being lazy again and not editing my stuff, Ive been asking her to edit it for the past four months, so I've actually have had this story finished for a long time. I've give up on having Artemis edit though, so without any further waiting I realease my crappy grammar upon you all and update without editing my last two chapters (although I don't think my grammar's actually that bad, Artemis just likes to feel high and mighty by putting me down...), please don't complain about grammar and such. I hope you enjoy this chapter, please review!  
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**This chapter is in Darry's POV.**

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I awoke to the sound of someone coughing, and I got out of bed in a hurry. I quickly hurried out of the room, first I went into the bathroom and dug through our medicine cabinet for the thermometer, when I finally found it though, the coughing sounds had stopped and in their place came a new sound. A sort of gagging sound. I dashed out of the bathroom with the thermometer to find that Steve and Two-Bit already headed toward Soda and Pony's suddenly turned to Two-Bit.

"Can you go get something for Ponyboy to drink? I'm guessing he'll need it after all that coughing." Steve asked Two-bit. Two-Bit simplely nodded before turning in the direction of the kitchen. I reached for the door knob and turned it slowly, not wanting to make to much noise considering Dally and Johnny were still asleep. Steve and I entered the room together, Ponyboy was having another coughing fit and Soda was rhythmically rubbing his back. Pony looked horrible, his hair was sticking every which way and he was so flushed it made him look like he was wear old lady make-up. Two-Bit came in and pushed passed us, handing a glass of juice to Pony, he grabbed the juice from him and took a gulp, relieving himself of his coughing fit. His face turned slightly green.

"You okay Pone?" I asked kneeling down beside him. He turned even greener than before, and grabbed the trash can from Soda. He stuck his head into it and threw up the little bit of juice he did drink, followed by a bunch of dry heaves.

"I take it your feeling pretty crappy then?" Steve said, trying to lighten the apmosphere of the room unsuccessfully. He and Two-Bit left the room soon after, probably in realization that the only thing they could to help at the moment was clean out the garbage can- a job neither of them wanted. Ponyboy squirmed under the bed sheets and then ripped them off, I reached over and felt his forhead, it was hot and sticky from sweat.

"Gee Pony, your burning up, lemme take you temperature," I said, holding the thermometer up. He opened his mouth to say something, but before the words could reach his lips I popped the thermometer in his mouth, not wanting any protesting. As I waited for the themometer to take Pony's temperature, I thought to myself, _Pony couldn't have gotteen this sick from what happened last night, he probably had a bit of fever before hand and having his head forced into ice cold water probably just made it worse. Geez, I'm a horrible brother, I should have noticed that he had a fever before he left the house last night. _I reached over and took the thermometer from Pony's mouth, _105_ it read, damn. This wasn't good at all, I needed to get his tempurature down, and fast! "Your temperature is way up little buddy, we should probably try to find a way to bring it down." I told him trying to sound as calm as possible. Ponyboy's reasponce to this was to shiver and pull all of the blankets up to his chin. "Hey! Were you not listening to me, we have to bring your temperature down, not up!" I scolded him.

"But, I'm freeeeeezing!" He complained, pulling the sheets closer to him. Soda got up and left the room not wanting to hear us fight.

"No, that's just the fever tricking you into thinking that!" I argued back, grabbing the sheets we started to fight, him trying to keep them up and me trying to keep them down. How could I convince Pony that he would feel better with the sheets off, and how was I going to ring his temperature down?! Suddenly an idea came to mind. "It'll be much worse if you don't cooperate, Ponyboy." I threatened and continuing to fight for the blankets. "That's it." I said with a frustrated huff, I scooped him up in my arms.

What are you doing!?" he yelped, looking slightly shock as to what I was doing. I ignored him and walked into the kitchen, grabbing some plastic bags off the counter, I sat him down and started wrapping up his broken arm. "Darry, what are you doing?"

"Wrapping your arm so it doesn't get wet." I simply said, finishing wrapping his arm I picked him back up, and started carrying him down the hall. Steve, Soda, and Two-Bit had went back to sleep and that Dally and Johnny had stayed the night too, and were asleep also, so I hoped Pony didn't make too much of a fuss and woke everyone up.

"What for?" he asked nervously.

"You, refused to bring down your temperature the easy way, so now, we have to bring it down the hard way." I told him as we entered the bathroom and I began to put my plan in action. Pony, realizing what my plan was started to try to escape from my grasp, but I just held on tighter and turned on the shower on to cold, stepping into the shower with him still in my grasp..

"Noooooo! Stop, NO, Darry, let me out of this shower right now," he started to freak out, and it was obvious he was not liking this one bit.

"What are ya doin', Darry?" Came a vary grouchy Dally from the other side of the shower curtain. I felt kinda guilty when I realized that my plot to lower Ponyboy's fever had probably woken everyone up.

"I'm bring Ponyboy's temperature down," I told Dally through the curtain.

"Huh, by the commotion he's making, you'd think you were trying to kill him." Dally said, laughing.

"Dally, save me!" Pony called out in one last desperate attempt to save himself from the cold shower.

"Wow, he sounds pretty delusional there Dar, you may want to keep him in there for a little bit." He said laughing, before walking out.

Pony struggled for a little bit more before realizing that he couldn't win against my grasp, especially considering the fact that being sick was draining the strength out of him rather quickly. His eyes fluttered softly until they remained closed and breathing evened out as he fell asleep leaning against me. We stood in the shower in the shower for a little while longer before I finally decided that Pony's temperature had probably dropped enough. As careful as I could not to wake him, I gently scooped him back up in my arms and got out of the shower, turning off the water behind me.

"Is he going to be alright Dar?" Soda's concerned voice whispered, and I turned to find him leaning against the bathroom door frame.

"Yeah, I'm hoping that the shower was able to bring down his fever at least by a little bit. Do you think you could dry off Pony and take the wrappings off his arm for me? I really need to get dressed." I told him.

"Sure." I smiled gratefully at his response and head towards Soda and Pony's room, where I gently laid Pony out on the bed, before leaving the room I quickly took his temperature, _102 _it read. Not low, but not as high as before._ He's going to be alright. Yeah, he's sick but, he's going to be just fine._ I thought to myself as I left to go change into dry clothes but, as I did, a sense of guilt inside me that had seemed to have been there since this whole mess began, seemed to continue to grow.

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**I'm done chapter 12! I love reviews, so press the review button and you'll make for a very happy me. I'll update as soon as I can.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I still don't own any of it.**

**Okay, so once again, I've given up on getting Artemis to edit, I apologized for any bad grammar or spelling. Thank you to my reviewers you have been truly awesome. This is the last chapter to this story please review!  
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**This chapter is in Pony's POV**

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It has been over a week since I came down with my fever. I'm still pretty weak, but Darry says he'd be pretty shocked if I wasn't still weak. Although I'm feeling much better nobody in the gang has let me out of bed yet, one of them is always there to stop me from getting up and about. Man, why do they always have to restricted me to certain areas? If I had known getting out of the house would lead to this I would have never left the house in the first place! I thought being confined to the house and porch was bad, but right now I would choose the situation over the present one in a heart beat.

"Hey Pone, how ya doin'?" Johnny casually strolled into the bedroom. He had been beaten by the Socs' too and it still showed, although, not as bad as it did on me. His lip was still cut although it had scabbed over and his short sleeved t-shirt revealed bruise and couple cuts along his arms. He still walk with a bit of a limp, because when the Socs' tackled him he sprained his ankle.

"I've been better. Room confinement is definitely worse than house confinement," I replied, letting out a dry chuckle.

"Aw, come on Pony, it can't be that bad! You've got lots of stuff to keep you busy." Johnny argued, trying to be optimistic I guess.

"Like what? There's nothing to do in here! I have been able to go outside in ages it seems like!" I grumbled.

"I could be worse though, you could be in the hospital again. Your lucky you didn't get pneumonia!" Johnny exclaimed.

"I don't feel lucky," I rolled my eyes. "I feel like someone who has been stuck bed for a week with nothing to do, but homework!"

"That's why when I saw a copy of this book I got it for you," Johnny said handing me a book, _gone with the wind _the front title read.

"Aw, thanks man! How did you know I've always wanted this book!?" I asked.

"You've said something about it before, I've got to go, I'll see ya around." He told me, waving as he left the room. I opened the book and soon I emersed into the word of the characters from my new book, allowing the words to carry me to different lands as I eagerly turned the pages and allowed my eyes to zoom across each new page with fascination.

"Ponyboy." Some one called softly from the door way of the room Sodapop and I shared. I looked to see Darry standing there. His reds were red and puffy and his hair was tosseled, it almost looked as if he had been crying.

"Your home from work earlier than usual... Darry, have you been cryin'?" I squinted at him trying to get a better a look at the figure that stood across the room from me. He nodded meekly, sniffling a little as he did so. Suddenly, despite his big muscular frame, he looked small and weak, "Why've you been cryin' Dar?"

"Because it's all my fault."

"What do ya mean by that!? Are you tslking about my arm again? It's okay, you already apologized and my cast will only be on for another month and a half, which when you think about it isn't really a long time." I said, some-what shocked as to he had just said.

"Not just your arm Ponyboy, this whole thing. Think about it, If I hadn't lost my temper with you, if hadn't gotten so upset I wouldn't have hit you. If you weren't hit you would have fell and broken your arm. If you hadn't broken your arm, you wouldn't have been confined to the house. If you hadn't been confined to the house you wouldn't have insisted of going out for a walk that night. If you hadn't gone out for that walk you, and johnny wouldn't have gotten beatin' by the Socs' and neither of you would have gotten hurt. You wouldn't have been drown either and would have gotten sick. I just feel so bad Ponyboy, the guilt just keeps eating at me. I mean I got so angry because you got me real worried when you didn't come home that night and then when you cam it was late, I seemed to let my relief that you were home come out as anger. Two-Bit told me when you were still in the hospital that you siad something about not thinking that I loved you, he said that you thought that the only reason you weren't in a boys home was because Soda wouldn't allow it. At first when he told me this I thought, why would you ever think that!? Then I really thought about it I realized that you had tons of reason to believe so. I mean, I've never told you that when I'm always telling you to do better in school than you are it's really my way of encouraging you to keep working hard, because I don't know how to anyother way. When I yell at you it's because I don't know what else to do, sometime I don't know how to handle things. I'm so so sorry, Ponyboy. I know that a simple sorry won't change every thing I've done and screwed up, but I feel that it still needs to be said. Oh, and Ponyboy, I do love you, just as much as Soda, I love you both so much I don't know what I would do without the two of you." He finished his little speech and with a sigh turned away from me and began to leave the room.

"Wait, Darry!" I called after him, slowly stopped and turn back to me.

"We've both made mistakes, and that's okay. Everyone makes mistakes, Darry. I'm sorry for the mistakes I have made, and really know that I get where your coming from, I realize that your mistakes haven't even really been mistake because all this time all you've really been doing was looking out for me the best way you could." With that being said, I untangled myself from sheets and walked over to where Darry was. I wrapped my arms around him and he slowly wrapped his around me, sitting us both down on the florr he cradled me like a baby against his cheast, "I love you too, Darry, I really truly do." I murmuered into his chest and I knew he heared me because he tighted his grip around me.

Soon we were both bawlin' like babies on the floor. Not because we were sad but, because we were happy. We were happy beacause everything was going to get better and everything that had once seemed broken was now mended and on it's way to recovery. Slowly we stopped crying and drifted into sleep, dreaming happy thoughs, know inf that everything was alright now.

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**Now this is switching over to third person kind of view.**

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The gang stepped into the Curtis house, looking for Darry and Ponyboy, who nobody had seen all afternoon. They found them sleeping on the floor, Pony curled up in a small ball on Darry's chest. Both had puffy eyes as if they had been crying, but everyone seemed to know that this wan't a bad thing, but in fact, a very good thing. Everyone seemed to understand that what was broken wasn't any longer.

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**WHOOOOOT! Well this story is officially done. Thank you to everyone who supported me in my writing of this story. Reviews for this final chapter would be really apperciated. I'm going to do more stories soon. If anyone has an idea for a story they would like me to write, go ahead and send me a message.**


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